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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



The 



Light of Our Spirit 



BY ' 

Mrs. BERTHA EHRLIGH 



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Berlin, Wisconsin, 
1901. 



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THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two Copies Receive© 

JAN. 13 1902 

- CofVmGHT ENTRY 

CLASS^XXc. Wo 

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copy a. 



COPYRIGHTED, 1901, 
By MRS. BERTHA EHRLICH. 



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The Light of our Spirit. 



CHAPTER I. 

MY dear reader, in order to secure this 
insight we must take for our source 
our Heavenly Father. God is uncreative, 
spiritual, and His characteristics are eternal, 
unchangeable, all-powerful, omniscient, omni- 
present, all-holy, righteous, truthful and mer- 
ciful. These characteristics reveal to us that 
God has created heaven and earth, and 
through His all-powerful word, Jesus, (who 
existed before the foundation of the earth was 
laid) originated all that moved and lived on 
land and in water. All this God created in 
live days; and as He found His works all sat- 
isfactory He blessed them ; then the sixth day 
He inspired man, whom He had created that 
day, with the breath of life. This man was a 
living soul before Him, dressed in the robe of 
righteousness. God named him Adam and 



4 THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 

rejoiced over him, because He saw in him His 
divine image radiating in love and faith. 

God allowed a heavy sleep to fall over 
Adam that He might take a rib from his 
body and make a woman out of it— the 
woman He gave to Adam as his help-mate. 
God blessed them and gave them sovereignty 
over all that He had created on land and in 
water. Thus all of God's works were complete 
the seventh day, and He rested from all His 
works and blessed the day. 

As soon as He was rested He went to 
work again with man, because He had created 
him for eternal life, and thus He wanted to 
guide him through life in order to make him 
strong in spirit, fill him with wisdom and 
acknowledgment of his descent. 

Adam and Eve saw the all-powerful hand 
of God under which they had to humble them- 
selves. They heard the all-powerful voice 
which told them that they should guard 
against injustice; they should serve their 
neighbor in love both by word and by action. 

God planted a garden in Eden w T herein 
He placed man. All varieties of trees sprung 
forth, a pleasure to view, bearing fruit good 
to eat. Among the trees was a tree of life, and 
also a tree discriminate of good and evil. In 



THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 5 

Eden was also a river for irrigation ; and this 
garden Adam was to cultivate according to 
God's prediction. The Supreme Power told 
the first man to eat from all the fruit in the 
garden (that is, spiritual fruit) except from 
the tree discriminate of good and evil; be- 
cause as soon as he had eaten from the latter 
he would die. In the command, this you shall 
do, and this you shall not do, a great severity 
is expressed. Yet we cannot help but feel that 
the most tender love is at the bottom of it all. 
God loves His children. But the serpent was 
more cunning than the other animals God 
had created. He tempted Eve by telling her 
that her eyes would be opened and she would 
know the difference between good and evil. 
She ate from the fruit and also gave her hus. 
band some of it to eat, and he ate. Their 
eyes were suddenly opened and they saw that 
they were naked. A sudden fear came over 
them because they heard the voice of God (in 
their spirit) who was walking in the garden. 
Adam and Eve hid themselves under the tree 
in the garden from His Majesty. "Where art 
thou?" a voice calls. God sees His child 
before Him in fear and trembling — wandering 
astray in the path of darkness — no more able 
to see His robe of honor (Jesus the holy love). 



6 THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 

He asks man the question, "Who has told 
you that you are naked? Have you eaten 
from the tree I told you not to eat? " Adam 
blamed the woman God had given him ; she 
had tempted him. God questioned the woman: 
"Why-did you do that?" She says the ser- 
pent deceived her, and she ate. Upon the 
serpent the Lord laid the curse, and in ma- 
jestic words made known to him that the 
descendants of the woman would crush his 
head. 

Adam was no more allowed to cultivate 
the garden of Paradise (the garden of the 
blessed ones), because he permitted himself 
to be tempted by the temporal food, became 
haughty and thought himself God's equal. 
So God was compelled to lead Adam and his 
wife out of the garden. The scene of depart- 
ure was very sad. They were now forced to 
labor very, very hard for their existence in 
a field that would bring forth thorns. At the 
entrance of the garden a cherub (an angel) 
was placed with an uplifted sword, to guard 
the passage to the tree of life. 






Now listen further, my dear readers, 
about God's foresight and premeditation in 
regard to the first man. When God had 



THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 7 

created Adam as representative of His image 
and honor (Eve for the honor of Adam), He 
appointed him as teacher and missionary: 
as teacher for his descendants (as inherit- 
ance) ; as missionary for all people on earth 
(as progenitor). In these two vocations he 
should sojourn before God, his father, in holi- 
ness and righteousness. But after he had 
been tempted to eat from the forbidden fruit, 
God, the Lord, saw immediately that he 
(Adam) no more sojourned before Him in 
childlike spirit, because he saw no more the 
source of holy and righteous love, Jesus the 
gracious light, which should lighten and guide 
him in all paths of life. He should bring up 
children born to him in this pure light. 

My dear reader, God is light, in Him is no 
darkness. As soon as He had created heaven 
and earth, He sent forth Jesus, the first power 
of His almighty spirit, in words, "it will be 
light." God needed this light for all His 
works, and when He had at last created man, 
He put this light into his heart as a guide 
for his soul, that he might never go astray. 
Because God had created man as tenderly as 
a flower, and did not want that he should be 
injured in any w T ay. God is all love, and thus 
he has made everything as lovely for man as 



8 THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 

possible. God's extreme goodness towards 
Adam made him haughty; it was haughti- 
ness that banished man from Paradise (not 
God) to labor in the thorny field (the hearts 
of his descendants), which was the source of 
much grief and care to Him. Man was hence- 
forth destined to eat his daily bread in fatigue. 
God had shown to him and his wife His 
powerful hand, under which they were com- 
pelled to humble themselves. 

God wanted to elevate man at a certain 
time. — When? If man had eaten the fruit 
God permitted him to eat; because if God 
elevates man He feeds him on spiritual fruits, 
in order to make him strong, firm, immov- 
able in the meekness of his spirit, which con- 
tains the seal of holy love, and stands highest 
by God. This Adam knew, because he wanted 
to elevate himself before the face of God, his 
Father, but fell in fear of death. Because sud- 
denly a spiritual darkness took place within 
him, and he could see only that which was 
before his natural eves. God had created him 
to look into the hearts of his descendants and 
teach them. 

But, my dear reader, Adam was led to 
repentance by the sorrowful life of his first 
two sons. 



THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 9 

Cain through jealousy killed his brother 
Abel. God from heaven called to him through 
an angel, "Cain, where is your brother Abel?" 
Cain says he knows not, nor does he intend 
to be his brother's guard. The murderer felt 
safe in his evil deed — no one has seen him — 
but he is struck when the Almighty Judge 
makes known to him that the crime he com- 
mitted was seen. He is seized with the same 
fear of death that his father had experienced 
in Paradise, when he hears the words that 
express his condemnation on earth— the earth 
having received from his hands the righteous 
blood of his brother. 

Cain, according to God's sentence, was 
for the balance of his life to restlessly rove 
the world over. The murderer must acknow- 
ledge his deadly sin before God, he fears the 
sentence pronounced upon him, the torturous 
disquietude. He feared that in his sojourns 
somebody would kill him, but God prevented 
this by putting a sign on him that no one 
should kill him. This torturous disquietude 
still pursues the murderer of to-day; unsteady 
and flighty he still errs around until God 
suddenly brings him to light and leads him 
into ttiB hands of the temporal judge. My 
young reader, we see here in the heart of Cain, 



10 THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 

that treacherous vanity has taken hold which 
originated in the heart of the father. This 
inheritance in the son terminated in an actual 
criminal deed. This haughtiness has been 
inherited by all successive generations. Thus 
darkened the love toward God in their hearts. 
God, who viewed His children from heaven, 
saw 7 that the descendants of Adam did not 
beseech Him for true knowledge of wisdom — 
even did not desire it. So the people had no 
spiritual pilot. But while God gave Adam a 
long life (930 years), he again acknowledged 
in his heart the pow r er of wisdom, of w T hich 
the grace of God again allowed him to be 
a participant. So many of his descendants 
acknowledged in old age the source of the 
right knowledge of the wisdom of holy love 
and received grace. 



CHAPTER II. 

BY the rapid increase of man on earth a spir- 
itual darkness arose, although God called 
unto His children to come to Him. No one 
heard the voice in their spirit, because they 
were living in the lust of their temporal body; 
thus made themselves servants (slaves) of 
their own body. When a child was born to 
parents they did not beseech God for an obed- 
ient heart in the same. In obedience to God 
and to parents dwells prosperity and long life. 
God demands of the parents to beseech Him 
for obedience in their children; so that His 
name, Father, remains honored in the heart 
of the children— peace on earth and a pleasure 
for parents. But, my dear reader, in the 
obedience of showing due honor to God the 
parents have themselves failed, because they 
acknowledged not the spirit's light through 
the medium of a darkened heart. Through 
immorality man was trodden under the sod. 
Instead of being sovereign over a world so 



12 THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 

beautifully created (filled with fruits of all 
kinds, gold, silver and precious stones), the 
world ruled over man and soon buried him 
in the dust and dirt. Then spoke the Lord 
through an angel, that the people no more 
allowed Him to admonish them. Yet He was 
willing to give them one hundred and twenty 
years to reform. The Heavenly Father looked 
down upon His people and listened, but He 
heard no one mention the name of God. 
From His superior abiding place He saw that 
the people did not recognize His great mercy, 
but continued stubbornly to live their lasciv- 
ious lives. The Lord regretted that He had 
made man. He felt very sorry over the dis- 
obedience of man, and decided to exterminate 
all, man as well as animals on earth. 

Noah found grace before the Lord, because 
he was a pious man and preached righteous- 
ness on earth, and firmly believed that what 
God said He could do. Noah had three sons. 
The earth before the eyes of God was full of 
frivolity; all humanity was degraded before 
the Lord. God commanded Noah to build 
an ark, naming in detail the material neces- 
sary for building, and also giving the dimen- 
sions. After all was completed God told Noah 
that He would flood the earth and destroy all 



THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT, 13 

all on it that had a vital Adam in it. All on 
earth shall be drowned. But He wanted Noah 
to go into the ark with his wife, his sons, and 
his sons' wives. God commanded him also to 
put into the ark all kinds of animals, cattle, 
birds, worms— all in pairs of opposite sex; he 
was compelled also to take with him all kinds 
of food that were eatable, so that he might be 
supplied with nourishment. Noah did all that 
God bade him do. God then told him to go 
into the ark with his whole family, because 
he had been righteous up to date. Seven 
days later God sent rain for forty days and 
forty nights and flooded the whole earth, 
even the highest hills were covered. Noah 
was six hundred years old at the time of the 
flood. All living perished except the contents 
of the ark. The flood remained on earth one 
hundred and fifty days. 

My dear reader, all who perished in the 
flood had through their stubborn heart sinned 
deeply against their Heavenly Father. They 
had saddened Him, because they corrupted 
His blessed earth with the frivolity of their 
body, through evil, unrighteous words and 
works. 

At the end of the time God thought of 
Noah and the animals in the ark and gave a 



14 THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT, 

wind to reduce the water. The seventeenth 
day of the seventh month the ark landed on 
Mt. Ararat. The water went down gradually, 
and the first day of the tenth month the tops 
of the mountains could be seen. 

After forty days Noah opened the window 
and let a raven fly forth; — it flew back and 
forth until the land was dry. Then he let a 
dove flv forth to find out how low the flood 
w r as, but the dove found no place to put her 
foot to rest and came back again. The earth 
was still covered with water. Noah reached 
his hand out of the window and gently took 
the dove back into the ark. He waited pa- 
tiently seven days longer and then sent out 
another dove; she came back to him and 
brought a leaf in her bill. Now Noah was 
convinced that the water had fallen a great 
deal. He waited seven days longer and then 
sent a dove forth again. But this dove did 
not return to him. Now he opened the roof 
of the ark, and saw that the earth was dry. 

My young reader, by the flood God shows 
us that He loved the earth just as much as 
heaven. Because when He created heaven 
and earth He destined heaven for His chair 
and earth for His foot-stool. And the people 
He had created were to live on the earth dedi- 



THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 15 

cated to them in holiness and righteousness 
neighborly together. So His will might be 
done on earth as in heaven, and His feet 
might rest on earth. But the children of 
man, through their disobedience, spoiled all. 
All that God had said to them through an 
angel, they could not hear through the spirit 
of their enslaved sinful body. The heart of 
the people was enveloped in darkness, so the 
earth also seemed destitute of light to them. 
God, in His almighty power, who is love 
itself, gracious and merciful, assured Noah 
that He would never again curse the earth 
on account of man, because there is a tend- 
ency in the human heart towards evil from 
youth up. Never again would He crush all 
that lives as He had done. But He will seek 
vengeance in each individual case—whoever 
will spill the blood of man, his blood shall 
also be spilled by man, because they are all 
images of the same source. All this God 
revealed to Noah and his sons when He led 
them out of the ark. God made the agree- 
ment between Himself and Noah (his sons 
included) that He would never again destroy 
all on earth by a flood and He gave the rain- 
bow as a symbol of this covenant. The rain, 
bow really represents the covenant between 



1 6 THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 

heaven and earth. God tells us if there are 
clouds in the sky, the rainbow shall be seen 
in them. It serves as a reminder of the cov- 
enant between Himself and us and all living 
animals, that there shall never again be a 
flood to destroy all flesh. The three sons 
of Noah dispersed and populated all lands. 
Noah engaged in agriculture — planted a vine- 
yard. He lived three hundred and fifty years 
after the flood and died at the age of nine 
hundred and fifty years. 



CHAPTER III. 

NOW, my dear reader, through the three 
sons of Noah (Shem,Ham and Japheth) 
God again began to populate the world with 
mankind, that should reign supreme on earth. 
Although God had promised never to flood 
all earth again with water and destroy all 
flesh, yet he had by no means given up to 
destroy man ; for those who would sin against 
His holy will, for them He had instituted the 
penalty of death. 

Since God knows hearts, He did not re- 
joice overthe descendants of the sons of Noah, 
because He knew very well that the sin of 
Adam, which had thoroughly saturated all 
flesh, would k again make its appearance — that 
poisonous plant in the heart, vanity. We 
can plainly see that God did not regret the 
destruction of man in the flood, but He re- 
gretted to devastate earth in full bloom and 
all that can be called beautiful — and all the 
animals, too, on account of man's impurity. 



18 THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 

In the creation of heaven and earth God ex- 
erted the whole strength of the power of His 
almighty spirit. 

As the children of the descendants of Noah 
scattered about they traveled in different 
lands. The descendants of Shem found a 
plain in the land of Shinar, and made it their 
dwelling place. 

The whole world then spoke one language. 
All the descendants of Shem held council and 
decided to build a city and a tower in their 
land. The summit of the tower should reach 
to the sky. The work, when completed, should 
serve as an honor to their name. God, whose 
eyes are directed upon His children all the 
time, saw that they were seeking honor for 
self, but He allowed them to go on with the 
work. With hard labor they prepared the 
bricks for the work. Just as thej 7 were busily 
building, God came to them that He might 
see the city and tower the children of man 
were constructing. As God saw that they 
would not relent in the work they had under- 
taken, but carry it through, then God exerted 
in the power of the holy trinity, His influence. 
He scattered the laborers and changed the 
language of each one, so that they could not 
understand each other. From that moment 



THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 19 

they were compelled to stop their gigantic 
work, because they all spoke a different lang- 
uage. The incomplete tower was henceforth 
called the Tower of Babel. 



Out of the tribes of Shem God chose 
Abraham, the son of Terah, in order to bless 
through him all nations on earth. God called 
him when he was still a youth, and blessed 
him, and made a covenant with him, because 
He found him faithful in heart. When his 
father died he received word that he should 
enter the field of missionary work. He com- 
manded him to go forth from his native land, 
from his friends and from his father's house, 
into a land that He would show 7 him. There 
He would make a great nation of him, bless 
him and make his name famous. And the 
Lord led Abraham with his wife Sarai into 
the land of the Canaanites and allowed him 
to wander through the land. After he had 
traveled through Canaan he came to Sichem 
and in the plain of Mamre pitched his tent, 
built an altar for the Lord and preached His 
name. The Lord had appeared to him in a 
vision, and told him that his descendants 
should have the land. Abraham w r as a man 
who doubted not the promises of God, but 



20 THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 

was firm in faith and gave God the honor. 
He knew very well that whatever God prom- 
ised He fulfilled. As God had examined his 
heart and his works, He counted his faith 
towards righteousness, and presented him the 
inheritance of the holy ones. God blessed 
Abraham and the blessing of Abraham also 
spread among the heathens. Only the right- 
eous will live their life in Christ. 

Immorality had almost reached the stage 
of degradation that it had in the time of 
Noah. The Lord saw all from heaven. He 
told Abraham (through an angel) that there 
was a cry in Sodom and Gomorrah which 
was great, and their sins heavy. Abraham's 
brother's son, by the name of Lot, lived in 
Sodom with his wife and two daughters. 
God sent two men (angels) to Lot (Abraham's 
nephew). These two men came to Lot in the 
evening as he was sitting at the gate. He 
very graciously received strangers and gave 
them lodging — so he greeted these strangers 
and invited them under his roof over night, 
and his wife prepared a meal. After they had 
dined they wanted to go to rest for a little 
while. The cry of people is heard, young and 
old, people from all directions surround the 
house of Lot. They demand Lot and inquire 



THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 21 

for the strangers, saying: "Bring them out 
unto us, that we may know them." Lot went 
out to them and locked the door behind him, 
and said: "Brethren, do not so wickedly." 
They would not listen, but pressed harder 
and harder, because Lot was a stranger in 
their midst. They attempted to break the 
door, when suddenly Lot was seized by the 
two strangers and pulled into the house, and 
the other men at the door were stricken with 
blindness, so they could not find the door. 

Early in the morning the two angels asked 
Lot and his wife and two daughters to hasten 
out of town to the mountains and save their 
lives there. Lot had found grace before the 
Lord and told the two men : "I cannot escape 
to the mountains, lest some evil take me and 
I die." So he hastened to the little town of 
Zoar, which he reached at sunrise. 

The Lord allowed brimstone and fire to 
rain down from heaven upon Sodom and 
Gomorrah. He desolated the cities, devas- 
tated the community surrounding the cities — 
laid all the fields waste. Here, my dear 
reader, the words of the Lord to Noah at the 
time of the flood were already executed. In 
the blood of their body He sought vengeance. 
The Lord thought of Abraham. About this 



22 THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 

time a son was born to Abraham by Sarai, 
his wife, and he named him Isaac. Abraham 
reared him according* to the w 7 ord of God, the 
Lord, that is to do all that is righteous and 
good. My dear reader, when God appeared 
unto Abraham and said to him : "I am the 
Almighty God ; walk before me and be thou 
perfect," from that time on Abraham received 
a supernatural insight into the light that the 
darkened hearts cannot conceive (and even 
to-day not). 

It was due to Abraham's obedience to 
the voice of God that the Heavenly Father 
revealed to him the coming of Jesus, the Re- 
deemer of the world from death. When Isaac 
was forty years old he took unto himself a 
wife from Mesopotamia, according to the wish 
of his parents. Abraham died at the age of 
one hundred and seventv-five, and his mother 
lived to be one hundred and twenty-seven 
years old . 

There was a famine in the land as in 
Abraham's time. Isaac went to Abimelech,. 
King of the Philistines in Gerar. Isaac had 
been warned in a vision not to go into Egypt, 
but to remain in the land that God would tell 
him of, and sojourn there and God would be 
with him and bless him. Isaac inherited much 



THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 23 

land which fell to his heirs. He also received 
the same blessings that his father had re- 
ceived from God. Isaac sowed the land and 
harvested the same year grain a hundred- 
fold. The blessing of the Lord rested upon 
him. He became very wealthy and his opul- 
ence was very much envied by the Philistines. 
From jealousy the Philistines filled up 
with earth all the wells that Abraham had 
once ordered to be made, so that there was 
no water for Isaac's cattle to drink. Even 
the king envied him and the blessing bestowed 
upon him, and commanded him to move away 
from him, because he was growing too power- 
ful. Isaac moved away with his wife Rebekah 
and his two sons, Jacob and Esau ; also his 
shepherds with the herds of cattle, and pitched 
his tent in the valley of Gerar. He ordered 
the w r ells of Abraham's time to be opened 
again. The shepherds in the valley of Gerar 
quarreled with Isaac's shepherds about the 
water. So Isaac moved away further and 
had a well dujr and from henceforth the shep- 
herds quarreled no more. Isaac rejoiced over 
the peace among them and thanked God for 
the space He had given him on earth. The 
Lord appeared to him the night he went to 
Beer-she-ba and said : "I am the God of Abra- 



24 THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 

ham, thy father: fear not, for I am with thee 
and will bless thee." He built an altar there 
and preached the name of the Lord. 

Abimelech and his chief captain of the 
army visited him. When Isaac greeted them 
he said : " Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye 
hate me and have sent me away from you?" 
They saw now with certainty that the Lord 
was with Isaac, that he was a blessed child, 
and they wanted to take a mutual oath and 
live in peace and harmony henceforth. Isaac, 
who loved peace, cheerfully consented to 
Abimelech's proposition. The king and cap- 
tain went home feeling peaceful at heart. 
Isaac was chosen by the Lord to do the same 
work that his father had done— go to foreign 
lands and preach the word of the Lord. 



CHAPTER IV. , 

OF the two sons of Isaac the older one, 
Esau, was a hunter and husbandman, 
while the younger, Jacob, was chosen for 
similar work as his father and grandfather. 
Although Isaac blessed both his sons, yet the 
greater blessing rested upon the one who re- 
mained in the land of promise: that was 
Jacob. Since the blessing of the Lord rested 
upon him as upon his father, he was chosen 
to follow the foot-steps of his father — that is, 
spread the glory of God's word throughout 
lands. 

My dear reader, when Jacob went to Mes- 
opotamia upon the request of his parents, he 
reached there after sunset. He laid himself 
to rest in the open field and used a stone for 
his pillow. He had a dream in which he saw 
a ladder reaching from earth to heaven, and 
angels were ascending and descending the 
same. And above it stood the Lord, saying: 
"I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father, 



26 THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 

and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou 
liest ; to thee will I give it. And behold I am 
with thee and will keep thee in all places 
whither thou goest, and I will bring thee 
again into this land ; for I will not leave thee 
until I have done that which 1 have spoken 
to thee of." When Jacob awoke he felt assured 
that God was in that place and he knew it 
not. Jacob had surely found a sacred spot. 
It seemed to him that the gate of heaven 
must be there. He arose early in the morn, 
ing and took the stone upon which he had 
rested his head and poured o 1 over it; and 
he felt that God would be with him all the 
time and bring him peacefully back to his 
father's house. The angels of God were always 
with Jacob. His wife, Kachel, was a very 
pious woman, and her son, Joseph, received 
a very high position with Pharoah, because 
he could interpret the king's dream in regard 
to the seven years of prosperity and seven 
years of famine. 

During the seven years of prosperity Jo- 
seph had many granaries built for Pharoah, 
and bought grain from all lands and depos- 
ited it in these granaries. Then during the 
seven years of faminethe people from all lands 
came to buy grain from Pharoah. 



THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 27 

Joseph's father and brother also exper- 
ienced famine, but since Joseph had made 
Pharoah so rich he told him to take his father 
and brothers with their families as well as 
herds of cattle and give them the best por- 
tion of land in Egypt, and also maintenance. 
Jacob lived seventeen years in Egypt and 
died at the age of one hundred and forty- 
seven years, seeing his children all prosperous, 
all due to the goodness of Joseph's services. 
He blessed all his children and died in peace. 
Joseph had his father embalmed by physi- 
cians, which took forty days, then he took 
his body, according to the paternal wish, to 
Canaan and buried him beside Rachel. Joseph 
deeply mourned the death of his father. Jo- 
seph had two sons on whom Jacob showered 
blessings. 

These three men (Abraham, Isaac and 
Jacob) God chose from their brothers and 
sent them into the land of Canaan into which 
God promised to send Jesus, the Messiah, in 
flesh. These three messengers always gave 
God the honor in their teaching and mission- 
ary work. And God always made himself 
known to them (in holy love) when they felt 
depressed about the general disbelief in the 
Creator. There was no faith in God ; no one 



28 THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 

called to Him-— the world must be reformed. 
The Saviour of the world must come in the 
flesh ; must go forth from God, hi's father, and 
be born as man. This all the three strangers 
knew, and followed the voice of God, built 
altars and preached the name of the Lord. 
Even though the people knew nothing about 
their God (Creator) they should hear some- 
thing about Him through them, through 
their personal piety, their missionary work, 
and their altars. Though Jacob had many 
hard experiences, yet he felt that it was the 
will of God. The hatred and envy of the sons 
of Jacob towards their brother, and the won- 
derful guidance of God serves as a profitable 
example for many. 



CHAPTER V. 

ANOTHER king came to Egypt who knew 
nothing of Joseph. The descendants of 
the twelve sons of Jacob became very num- 
erous in Egypt, so that the king began to fear 
their power. In case of war the Israelites 
might join with the enemy against Egypt. The 
king appointed governors over the Israelites, 
who oppressed them most unmercifully, com- 
pelling them to work in mortar and brick. 
The children of Israel sighed over their work 
and cried unto the Lord and He heard them 
and took mercy upon their lamentable con- 
dition. He appointed a man out of their 
tribe, who was to lead them back to their 
beloved land of Canaan. This man was Moses, 
to whom God made Himself known while he 
was tending sheep at the foot of Mt. Horah, 
in the Midian land. There the angel of the 
Lord appeared to him in a bush of flames, 
yet the bush was not consumed. Moses turned 
to go nearer to the bush, but when God saw 



30 I HE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 

Ms movements, the angel of the Lord spoke 
to him: "Moses, Moses." He answered: ''Here 
am I." The Lord said: "Draw not nigh 
hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet; 
for the place whereon thou standest is holy 
ground. 7 ' Moreover he said: "1 am the God 
of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God 
of Isaac and the God of Jacob." And Moses 
hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon 
God. And the Lord said : "I have surely seen 
the affliction of my people which are in Egypt 
and have heard their cry by reason of their 
taskmakers; for I know their sorrows and I 
come to deliver them out of the hands of the 
Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that 
land into a good land and a large, into a 
land flowing with milk and honey. Behold, 
the cry of the children of Israel is come unto 
me: and I have also seen the oppression 
wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come 
now, therefore, and I will send thee unto 
Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my 
people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.'' 
And Moses said unto God: "Who am 1, that 
I should bring forth the children out of 
Egypt?" God commanded him to go and 
told him that He would be with him. Moses 
should tell the children of Israel that God, 



THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 31 

their father, had sent him. God made him 
famous, gave him sovereignty over the Israel- 
ites and glorified his name. He was chosen 
for a holy calling on account of his faithful- 
ness and meekness. Moses often heard the 
voice of the Lord, because he had a godly 
calling in which it was necessary to converse 
with God very frequently. 

My dear reader, through Moses God sent 
ten plagues upon Egypt before the king 
would allow the Israeliees to leave the land. 
This plague fell upon all people so that they 
might acknowledge the sovereignty of God in 
the light of Jesus. All this strengthened the 
faith of Moses and he firmly saw that God 
could do all He promised. Moses w 7 as con- 
vinced from all the symbols he had seen that 
he was a child of God, his heavenly father. 
So God had him in full command in the light 
of His spirit. Moses was now competent to 
teach and guide the children of Israel. 

The Israelites had a very poor conception 
of God ; they were unable to recognize His 
mercy in their miserable situation in Egypt, 
even though Moses taught them that all 
children of man should near themselves to 
Him, and see His glory in the face of His 
beloved son. But they could not get this 



32 THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 

clearness in their heart, because they were a 
stubborn people and preferred to seek their 
honor among men instead of with God. So 
they could find no peace in their breasts. 

God, through Moses, gave the Israelites 
the ten commandments on Mt. Sinai. The 
children of Israel had received the command 
to assemble at the foot of the Mount and 
hear the voice of the Lord. And as it began 
to lightning and thunder, and the sound of 
trumpets was heard, and Mt. Sinai began to 
smoke, they became alarmed and beseeched 
Moses to talk with them. They were willing 
to obey Moses now, because they feared if 
God spoke to them they would die. Moses 
comforted them and told them not to fear, 
because God was very gracious and merciful 
and they should ahvays have him in their 
mind, so as not to sin. It was proven that 
God talks with man on earth. So vou see, 
my dear reader, that everything is possible 
with God. He talked to Moses (in the light 
of His spirit) as a man converses with his 
friend, except that the heavenly voice always 
seems to penetrate through a cloud. 

Moses once desired to see God face to 
face, but God told him that would be impos- 
sible, because any man that would see His 



THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 33 

face would die. And the Lord said : "Behold 
there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand 
upon a rock: and it shall come to pass while 
my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a 
cleft of the rock, and I will cover thee with my 
hand while I pass by; and I will take away 
my hand and thou shalt see my back parts ; 
but my face shall not be seen." So you all 
see that God has taught man through his 
faithful servant, Moses. God commanded him 
to interpret to all parents His command- 
ments; and the parents in turn interpret 
them to their children. There is nothing love- 
lier than to love God ; and nothing sweeter 
than to learn, respect and follow His com- 
mandments. 

At the age of one hundred and twenty 
Moses blessed the children of Israel and ap- 
pointed Joshua as his successor, and then 
died at Mt. Nebo. Joshua followed the foot- 
prints of Moses. 



CHAPTER VI. 

GOD sent prophets that made known the 
coming of Jesus in flesh. Isaiah was the 
most renowned. He lived about 700 B. C. 
He testified of the godly grace which is not to 
be secured by external ceremony but through 
a purified heart. He foretold of the coming 
of Christ as the good shepherd. All the 
prophets from Moses unto Malachi foretold 
of the coming of Christ in flesh for the honor 
of God, peace on earth and for the pleasure of 
man. 

So, my young reader, you have many 
times observed that God talked frequently to 
Moses and the prophets and, made known by 
various symbols that He is the Creator of 
heaven and earth. He said that He would 
once more move not only earth but also 
heaven. 

The majority of people in the Old Test- 
ament time lived in fear of death, except 
those who had acknowledged that for every 



THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT, 35 

breath of life the power of God was necessary. 
It is not the powerful arm, the almighty word 
of this spirit, but all this impetus, which 
enlivens body, soul and mind, originates from 
His loving heart. The people in the Old Test- 
ament, who lived with this thought in their 
mind have talked much to their children about 
obedience. God promises long life and pros- 
perity to children that love and obey their 
parents. Therefore, children, be agreeable 
towards your parents in thoughts and words 
when they approach you with admonitions, 
that you do not disinherit the rest of your 
life. A child may delay in erecting a monu- 
ment in memory of its parents, but it is never 
too late to do that. But if a child fails to 
show love and obedience to them, while alive, 
they may have a life's remorse, because God 
frequently takes them away without warning. 
Take my advice and do not wait until too 
late. Gather your golden apples in time for 
the future. To live in fear of death is nothing 
more than to live in sin. The people who 
are not healed through the righteousness of 
Christ's blood will have to die with this tor- 
turing ailment. They fear death— they have 
horror of the grave — they dread eternity. 

Jesus suffered the sin of man from the 



36 THE LIGHT OF OLR SPIRIT. 

beginning of the world, and will until the end 
of it. Therefore He went forth from God, and 
burdened upon Himself the sins of man and 
gave us eternal life — brought us light by His 
guiltless death on .the cross. God did not 
prevent the Saviour's death, although He 
could have done it. He could have destroyed 
the children of men in a moment, w 7 ho refused 
to acknowledge Christ as His son (the first 
power that went forth from His glory) in 
their thoughts, words nor actions. They re- 
joiced to see Him crucified— they preferred to 
seek their own honor instead of giving the 
honor to God in the glory of His son. 

Jesus was sent from God and born of the 
Virgin Mary, who had been overshadowed by 
God's almighty spirit. This w 7 as made known 
to Mary by an angel ; the spirit of God rested 
upon her because she believed the words from 
the angel's lips. The angel also appeared to 
Joseph and made known to him the divine 
origin of the child of his wife. 

The birth of the son of God was first 
made known to the shepherds that were herd- 
ing sheep during the night near Bethlehem. 
The shepherds feared the presence of the glory 
of the angel, so the heavenly vision said to 
them: "Fear not: for behold, I bring you 



THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 37 

good tidings of great joy, which shall be to 
all people. For unto you is born this day in 
the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ, 
the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you : 
Ye shall find the babe w r rapped in swaddling 
clothes lying in a manger. ' ? And suddenly 
there was with the angel a multitude of the 
heavenly host praising God, and saying: 
^'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth 
peace, good will toward men." And it came 
to pass, as the angels were gone away from 
them into heaven, the shepherds said one to 
another: "Let us now go even unto Bethle- 
hem and see this thing which has come to 
pass, which the Lord hath made known unto 
us." As they came they found everything as 
the angel had told them. They made the 
glorious tiding known to all. There was a 
pious man in Jerusalem by the name of Sim- 
eon (an Israelite) who was to behold Christ 
before he died So he went to the temple and 
when the parents came with the child he took 
it in his arms and praised God and said: 
"Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart 
in peace, according to thy word: for mine 
•eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast 
prepared before the face of thy people; a light 
to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy 



38 THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 

people Israel." This pious Israelite destined 
the Saviour for the rescue of his people and a 
light for the Gentiles, but after his death 
things took a different turn. His race did 
not want to recognize Jesus as the son of 
God born from Trinity— because He was poor 
and lowly born from a virgin. They expected 
a Messiah to descend from heaven in splendor 
and glory, not a simple child that grew up 
among them as a teacher of divinity and a 
joy for children. No, they chose not to listen 
to Him. When twelve years old He went into 
the temple and there surprised the learned by 
His wise answersto questions that were asked 
Him. 



J 



CHAPTER VII. 

ESUS entered the ministerial services at the 
age of thirty. The wonderful utterances 
which were sent forth from His powerful spirit 
surprised and greatly alarmed the Pharisees, 
who made themselves appear pious externally 
by the use of sacred sentences — internally they 
were full of hypocrisy and vice. They cleansed 
their bodies with costlv salves, but their 
hearts were full of rapine and malice. They 
pursued Jesus wherever He went and asked 
Him mean questions in order to make Him 
fall short of the requisites of the son of God. 
They could not do this because He practised 
w 7 hat He preached. His life was spent in 
blessing those that condemned Him; He did 
well to those that hated Him; He prayed 
continually for those that offended Him, be- 
seeching His father to forgive them. With 
this child-like spirit He subdued His enemies 
and won the victory, which surely showed 
that He was the son of God. The victory 
of Christ meant victory for all men for all 
time. 



40 THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 

Jesus stood for the truth, and the truth 
is holy love to God and man. Jesus was the 
light that came into the world to clear the 
path of truth and life. The Lord speaks fre- 
quently of this light in His sermons. Jesus 
calls Himself the light and says w 7 hoever 
follows Him shall not sojourn in darkness, 
but will have the light of life. If the people, 
who had sunken low into envy and vanity, 
had listened to the Lord of Glory they would 
never have crucified Him, who was prophesied 
by their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and 
Jacob, as the light of their heart. Jesus 
simply taught the reflection of Himself. He 
was sent forth from God : first word in light 
(the first power of His glory); then flesh in 
light (the same power of God in the seed of 
the chosen Virgin Mary) becoming the son of 
man (but in His glory a son of God) in order 
to unlock Paradise again and look into the 
hearts of His own and teach them. But only 
by spiritual work through clearness of the 
flesh did He fulfill the will of His father. 

All men from the time of Adam have been 
created by the almighty hand of God out of 
earth, and received the breath of His holy 
spirit. This life will be eternal. God has 
created all His children for heaven and does 



THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 41 

not want to lose one in the abyss of damna- 
tion. All those that believed in Jesus shall 
view His glory forever. Therefore, my young 
reader, be not mislead — give Jesus your hand 
so you will not go astray — follow the foot- 
prints of Jesus. All those who journey in the 
path of light will, attired in white garments, 
sing before the throne of God with all the 
heavenly angels, u Praise be to God on high." 

When Jesus sojourned on earth He told 
man that this life is an earnest time, a watch- 
ful time, and a calling time. By earnest time 
is meant to work for our salvation by doing 
good. And the watchful time means that we 
should be firm in our belief in Christ so that 
the calling time may not surprise us and lead 
us through the door of death. To die with 
Jesus is to go into quiet repose, awaiting a 
joyous resurrection. To die without Jesus is 
death eternal. Consider carefully the punish- 
ment of unworthy pleasures. 

The joy of eternal life is to see God; the 
joy of the chosen ones is to see Jesus. To 
view God is the angels' joy and food; their 
favorite drink is the christening of little child- 
ren, and then bringing them up in the love of 
Jesus. The angels know that Jesus dries the 
first tear of every child as well as the last tear 



42 THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 

of death, whether the person is one or a hun- 
dred years old. Jesus is always ready to 
help, be it in pleasure or in pain. The holy 
bath of baptism is a gracious gift from God 
revealed to us through Jesus. God blesses 
the baptism of Holy Trinity. 

The holy sacrament originated from God 
and was instituted by Jesus, in order that 
sins may be forgiven and we may find grace 
by God. We must be reconciled with our 
neighbor before we dare partake of the Lord's 
supper. The Bible will help us to accomplish 
reconciliation. "Agree with thine adversary 
quickly while thou art in the way with him; 
lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to 
the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the 
officer, and then be cast into prison." The 
Bible is the most valuable book for tempo- 
rary and spiritual life, and will stand even 
though heaven and earth may vanish. The 
word of God is imperishable. The contents 
of the Bible are defensive. The Bible answers 
all questions that parents or children may 
ask. 

The greatest wealth for you, my reader, 
is to have truly Christian parents, who honor 
their heavenly father, because then you are 
already blessed by their good deeds — all their 



THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 4& 

works are approved by God through Jesus. 
Your parents may give you wealth so you 
can live happy — it is all dead; your pleasure- 
in this life is only temporary, but to live in 
Jesus is joy eternal. 

Many young people go to destruction 
because they are carried away by the admira- 
tion of beautiful clothes. They think clothes 
make people— they consider not how meaning- 
less the words are, because clothes do not 
make people, but they make cares for the rich 
as well as the poor. But honor makes people 
and pleases the heart. Honor that pleases 
the heart comes directly from God and is free 
from envy and lasts until death, leaving a 
lovely memory. This honor God grants to 
obedient hearts, which have the tenderness 
and meekness of Jesus. The people that 
always seek the pleasures of the world and 
never ask for God, meet the same fate as the 
rich man in Luke 16:25. No eternal comfort 
will come to those who are eternally dead 
before God. Here is the time of grace, for 
hereafter the condemned will suffer; their 
senses will suffer; they will taste the eternal 
bitterness of death. Consider carefully the 
seriousness of eternity. 



44 THE LIGHT OF OUR SPIRIT. 

As surely as Jesus went forth from God 
during creation to lighten the world, just so 
surely He was conceived by the Holy Ghost 
and born of the Virgin Mary and became the 
teacher of sinners. Then He ascended into 
heaven to dwell with His father again. He 
will come again but that will be to judge us. 
Judgment day will come as surely as night 
follows day and day follows night. When 
this day will be no one knows, not even His 
Son, to whom He has entrusted all power 
both fn Heaven and on earth — He will also 
announce the final judgment. Judgment day 
will not come until the word of Jesus has been 
heard in all ends of the world. Upon those 
who have brought souls to Christ a merciful 
judgment will be passed; to those w r ho have 
kept aloof no mercy will be shown. My young 
reader, consult carefully Matthew 25, and 
study this chapter until you feel that it is 
your own. You will then feel assured that 
you are a child of your heavenly father, and 
you will also feel that you can only be happy 
when you serve Jesus. 

Dann trocknet Jesus 

In Sterbensstunde 

Den Schweiss der Stirne 

Dir mit sein'm Kleide 

Zur Himmelsreise. 

LofC. 



Tor 



JAN 13 1902 



